The air was humid and carried the distant scent of salt from the sea behind but deeper into the forest, it began to shift into an earthy, ancient feel and untouched by sentient hands. Even with all his time spent in Spheraphase, Vastarael had rarely ever wandered forests without a purpose tethered to battle, diplomacy, or survival.
This time, the purpose was uniquely... simple. Honest, even.
He smiled to himself as he walked over a mossy path, every step echoing with light pulses of energy as the terrain subtly responded to his divine nature.
The first reason was practical. He wanted firewood.
Not just any firewood, though. He wanted wood with the right density and burn duration to roast meat to perfection. He was finally going to introduce barbeque to this world. It was the kind of thing he had only imagined doing back on Earth. It was also the kind of thing he had wanted to prepare for the kids in the orphanage but never had the time, space, money or world to make happen.
The second reason... was a little different. In all the years that passed and through the sleeping years where his body was sealed in slumber on the broken moon, Vastarael had never indulged in a childhood fantasy. It was the fantasy forged from the flickering screens of his teenage years, back when Earth still existed for him.
He remembered when he and Stephen used to talk about it at the back of the class. Movies painted demigods and warriors slicing entire trees with a single strike and power radiating from their hands and cutting nature in two like it was butter. It was a ridiculous dream.
But ow he was a Divine. And that dream was no longer unreachable.
He looked up.
Before him stood a behemoth of a tree. Its trunk was as wide as a small house, gnarled and layered with bark so tough that even a peak-tier Enlightenment creature would have to exert effort. The roots twisted into the ground and its crown stretched far into the heavens, brushing against the sky.
He took a deep breath, cracked his knuckles with satisfaction and raised his hand. With a flash of blue shimmer, a sapphire axe appeared in his palm. His fingers closed around the hilt as he rotated it once in his grasp, feeling the weight of it.
He took a stance.
"Alright. Let's see how satisfying this really is."
Then, without hesitation, he swung.
The air tore apart as the axe cleaved the atmosphere, the force of his swing generating a massive shockwave that cracked through the forest. Wind exploded outward from the impact point, flattening grass, shaking smaller trees and scattering flocks of unseen birds into the canopy above.
The axe connected and the result was catastrophic.
The tree flew. It launched hundreds of meters forward like a missile, crashing into a stretch of forest ahead and flattening everything in its path. A seismic tremor rocked the earth and leaves exploded into the air in a cloud of green and brown confetti. The sheer pressure displaced from the force echoed back in sonic bursts and nearby flora bent in response to the reverberating shock.
Vastarael stood still, his eyes wide.
"Damn," he said finally, blinking as the sound of creaking wood and collapsing trees finally faded.
He stared at his glowing sapphire axe. He had definitely overdone it but then again, the fact that the forest wasn't reduced to ash told him just how absurdly strong the flora in Inexpelcae was. That entire swing had used his full divine physique output, muscle reinforcement and Divine Energy all wrapped into one dramatic motion. The forest had tanked it. Not completely though, but impressively. He let out a soft laugh and ran his hand through his hair, amused and just a little impressed with himself.
"Well, that was so worth it."
He vanished and reappeared above the felled tree, standing on the massive trunk as it lay sprawled across the clearing. He placed one hand on it and began summoning Sapphire Materialization constructs to segment the wood into clean-cut, perfectly sized slabs for the barbeque he had planned.
His mind drifted a little as he worked.
He couldn't help but wonder what Elyonari might say when she definitely sensed the tremor. Knowing her, she'd be flying in any second now with a lecture on environmental balance. But honestly? He could take the heat. Because, right now, he was finally doing things for him.
He was still a Prince. But before the wars and the losses and the sleeping millennia, he was just a boy who wanted to slice down a tree with one swing and cook meat on a fire.
And today? He got to do both.
With the final piece of the massive felled tree stacked neatly beside the others, Vastarael clapped his hands once. A harmless shockwave caused the leaves to tremble and the nearby birds to scatter again into the treetops. The stacks of wood glimmered faintly before being absorbed into his inventory.
It had taken real hours of physical labor, sweat, muscle flexion and perfect form to cut down, trim, and process the entire tree because even for a Divine, the flora of Inexpelcae wasn't forgiving.
The tree's fibers were dense with divine resilience. Some of the branches had been as hard as stone and twice as flexible. Yet, he never once considered going all out to make it easier like using Runes or mystic power. He didn't want to cheat. He wanted to feel the honest, tangible act of doing something with his own body.
And by the time he was done, his white shirt lay folded on a nearby rock, his bare chest glistening with a sheen of sweat that caught the high sun above. it felt... right. Every swing had burned his arms. Every movement had called on physical instinct more than divine training. He hadn't done something like this in years.
Decades? No, millennia, if one counted his hibernation on the shattered moon.
With a sigh, he tilted his head upward, his eyes half-closed against the hot daylight that poured through the thick canopies above. The sun was blazing. That meant the others had probably already headed to the beach. He had already eaten lunch from the box and he had to admit, Narisva's food was amazing.
He stretched, the muscles across his shoulders and torso subtly flexing. The peony tattoo on his back seemed to shimmer faintly with energy as he did. The vines curled along his spine and collarbone, their obsidian hue so deep and lush it looked as though they were drawn with liquid void.
Lumbering was never supposed to be his duty today. In fact, there wasn't a single day in his life where 'chopping wood shirtless in a rainforest' was on the itinerary. But the density and toughness of the wood had offered him something far more valuable than mere firewood. It gave him a chance to become intimate with himself again. He had started the day thinking it would be a quick trip but in truth, the rainforest had reminded him of something he forgot in all the centuries of war and strategy. He was still a man who could enjoy the sun on his skin, the heat on his back, the labor of his own hands and the weight of an axe.
Which was kind of pleasant considering all the responsibilities he has as a Dynasty Monarch.
Then, the wind shifted. It was slight, but he felt it.
His Mystic Eyes of Awareness glinted in reaction, sharpening his gaze instantly toward the east side of the clearing. A presence was there just... observing. Stepping casually out from behind a thick curtain of glowing vines, her form was unmistakable.
Annierouge Plenituse.
But unlike the armored Divine who had towered before them during their test's conclusion, this version of her was almost... gentle. She wore a simple blouse tucked into a long flowing skirt made of some shimmering blue fabric. Her aqua-blue hair was tied into a high, loose ponytail, a few strands hanging playfully over her cheek. Her skin was as tanned ever. She looked like someone one would meet in a coastal village, not the First of the Seven Hydrangea.
Vastarael blinked, momentarily thrown off.
"You're here."
Her expression was cool but not hostile. She tilted her head slightly and rested her hands behind her back, eyeing the field around him, then him, and then the tree stump still glowing faintly from where he'd ripped it out of the ground.
"I patrol all the islands daily. It's part of my responsibilities. I monitor weather shifts, seismic activity, energy spikes... and the occasional shockwave that causes an entire patch of forest to convulse like it was slapped by a god."
She arched an eyebrow. Vastarael rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish chuckle.
"Ah. That might've been me."
"Might? I heard the sonic reverb from the southern waterfall cliffs. You made the ravens panic."
"I was... chopping wood."
"With an earthquake?"
"With enthusiasm."
She looked at him for a moment longer, then her gaze finally lowered subtly but enough for him to catch it. Her eyes landed on the axe resting casually on his shoulder, and then moved to his bare chest, the peony tattoo wrapping across it like living art. For the first time, she didn't hide her thoughts.
"You're surprisingly handsome."
Vastarael blinked. That... caught him off guard. Her expression remained passive but there was the faintest blush on her cheekbones. She stepped past him, one finger briefly brushing against the edge of the sapphire axe as she passed.
"Still don't like you."
"Good. I don't need another woman in my life."
Annierouge narrowed her eyes at that and glanced over her shoulder.
"Careful, Richinaria. You may end up eating those words."
He raised the axe and gave her a mock salute.
"Fair warning, Lady Hydrangea. I'm already full."